Friday, September 11, 2015

Bones Rough Riders Wheels

I rarely ride wheels smaller than 58mm, but I had to check out these Bones Rough Riders. I am a big fan of all terrain skateboard wheels due to the fact that most of the spots I frequent are rough to say the least, so these were right up my alley, or parking lot, or bank to curb.

So, what sets these apart from OJ Keyframes, or ABEC 11 subLIME SoftBallz or other cored softer wheels on the market? To begin with, I would first say the unique hub/core. Bones" "New H5 Hub" which is "Chemically bonded for an extremely strong hold" gives the wheel the firm ride of a harder wheel with all of the benefits of Bones ATF all terrain formula. According to Bones, "(ATF) wheels are poured in a special soft urethane we call All-Terrain Formula or (ATF). ATF wheels are excellent for rougher terrain so regardless of road quality, this revolutionary formula will roll you there quickly and smoothly."

Quickly and smoothly indeed. These wheels are FAST! The hub/core combo makes these wheels perform incredibly. Combined with the soft urethane of the all terrain formula, you can literally roll over anything! I spent the better part of tonight's session pushing, pumping, and carving through places I typically avoid at my local spot. Pebbles, twigs? No problem. Cracks? Whatever. Roll on. Read more details after the pic.
While slightly shorter than the Powell Bombers (60/85)that I have been riding, the Rough Riders are considerably faster. I even managed to coax them into a couple of fakie tail slides despite the fact that ATF wheels aren't intended to slide a lot. I made a few minor adjustments for these wheels. The first is that I added a bearing spacer to my set up despite the fact that I haven't used spacers since probably 1987, but, they really helped these wheels to roll better on the axle. The second adjustment was that I only used one washer on my axles instead of two because I couldn't get the axle nut on the threads as well as I like with both washers, and I ride my wheels borderline rattly loose!

All in all, these Bones Rough Riders are killer wheels! I highly recommend them for those of you who like to frequent spots that are otherwise not approachable if you are rolling on 101a.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sick review man! I'm planning on buying a set of these, what sized spacers did you use??

Jeff said...

Hey man! Sorry for the delay in responding. I'm sure they were just standard generic bearing spacers, but I do see that Bones has their own brand now. I really hope you dig these wheels as much as I did!